


The Third Half of Happiness

by Talimee



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Marriage Proposal, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 08:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18617290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talimee/pseuds/Talimee
Summary: At the beach, at dawn, they gift the future to the boy who has always lived in the present. But can he be brave enough to recieve it?





	The Third Half of Happiness

It was the crack of dawn when they ushered the last guests out of the café and into the waiting taxi. They kept the smiles on their faces, miming perfect hosts, but as soon as the doors to the car had slammed shut and the driver had put her foot to it, they slumped in utter exhaustion, Max going so far as to let himself fall on his considerable (as Ash liked to point out) rear.

„My feet are killing me“, Jessica groaned and groaned even louder when she'd slipped out of her heels and put her feet on flat ground for the first time in twelve hours. „Why didn't you stop me when I decided to wear these?“ She nudged one of the dainty white pumps and followed up with a slightly more forceful prod at Max's thigh.

„Oi!“ the older man complained but didn't move a muscle to bring himself out of Jessica's reach, so she prodded him again, this time to get him to stand up.

„Simple“, Ash drawled from behind her back. He stepped up to her and slid an arm around her waist. „Domestic violence.“

„As if“, Jessica scoffed and leaned into his side. „I'm as mild as a kitten with you two.“

„Yeah, I still got the scratches on my back“, Max chipped in from where he sat on the ground. He seemed to seriously consider the pros and cons of just sleeping the rest of the night in the beach café's parking lot. „If I claim veteran-status will I be spared the cleaning up?“

„Don't even think about it“, Jessica warned. „This party was your stupid idea in the first place.“

„Both your idea“, Ash put in and stepped forward to help Max off the ground. As he did so, his hand slipped from Jessica's waist to carress her buttocks through the thin fabric of her dress. „Look at it this way, old man: Dishes-ditching dumbasses don't get laid.“

„This is coercion“, Max groused but took Ash's outstretched hand and let himself be pulled up. They stood for a moment, chest to chest, and Jessica noticed their similarities in height and build, now that Ash had started to fill out his frame and Max had lost a bit of weight. Something akin to pride of ownership coursed hotly through her belly and made her throb.

„Right“, she said firmly before the temptation of just dragging those two to bed could overwhelm her. „Clean up first, then sleep.“

Thankfully, they had rented the place with professional clean-up included so they only had to collect personal belongings and scrape together those left-overs they wanted to keep. Still, the sun had risen over the ocean already when they were done and Jessica found herself on a deck-chair at the beach, tired feet burried in the cool sand and longing for a coffee but too exhausted to get up and make herself one.

Her silent prayers were answered when Ash came up to her, bringing two mismatched mugs with him and handed her one. She accepted the beverage with a grateful smile that stretched even wider when the young man plopped down next to her seat and leaned against her knee. She turned the mug in her hands and savored the strong smell, taking a sip eventually from the least chipped side and let the fingers of her free hand burrow into Ash's hair. The silence between them was comfortable, both contend with watching the ocean for a while.

It was not to last, of course. Not when Max Glenreed was nearby. Her husband of sixteen years and two marriages had been busy with who-knew-what and, having finished that, had decided to join their tête-à-tête at the beach. He came down the steps and toward them, walking the sugary sand with a gosling's inborn grace and came to stand next to her chair, opposite from where Ash was still resting.

„I'm knackered“, he said with a groan and stretched himself.

„The detriment of age, old man“, Ash mumbled from her side, voice droopy with almost-sleep. Ribbing Max was Ash's way of showing affection, they all knew, though Jessica was prepared to bet any amount of money that it was also a reflex by now. Her fingers moved down Ash's scalp, drawing circles on his nape and back of the head. She could almost hear him purr.

„Insolent brat“, Max answered, affection lacing every word. He hesitated, maybe thinking of adding another quib but decided against it. Instead, he took the last step towards Jessica's chair and bend down to press a kiss to her lips. „Happy anniversary“, he murmured with a bedroom voice.

„Happy anniversary“, she answered and lifted her chin for another, deeper kiss. Slightly out of breath when they parted again, she looked down to Ash who had propped his chin on her leg and was watching them with hooded eyes, his expression hard to read. Jessica bend down to him and he met her lips half-way.

Their kiss was languid and slow, exquisite in taste and touch. Where Max was straightforward to a fault, headstrong and simple, Ash kissed with a sense of wonder and exploration. He took her lead and opened up for her with ease but was teasing and probing her control every second step. She loved the playful wrestle for dominance they had, it being similar to the war of words her lover fought with her husband.

When they parted she tingled all over and she was pleased to see that their kiss had affected her men as well. Max was practically radiating desire and Ash was flushed, his lips pink and wet and slightly parted. His eyes though bespoke the naked wish to belong, his gaze the one of a lost boy who had what he desired within arm's reach but never dared to grasp it in fear of a mirage.

Of all the obstacles and disapproval their relationship met, Ash's refusal to believe himself worthy of their love hurt them the most.

Her desire was quickly fading now but she refused to let Ash have his way again, slinking out of this moment thinking he deserved no better and covering up his pain under light-hearted banter. She was determined to wipe that forlorn look off Ash's face forever. Luckily, Max and she had exactly the right thing planned already. Deciding that the present moment was as good or bad as it would ever be, the married couple nodded at each other.

„Ash“, Jessica opened. „Thank you for being here with us today. It means a lot to us.“ She felt his confusion in the sudden stiffness of his neck.

„No need to thank me“, he said, trying to sound nonchalant. But his tiredness and the kiss had left him open and vulnerable and there was a shaking in his voice that wasn't there normally.

„We have all the reason in the world to thank you“, Max cut in and knelt down in front of her, in front of Ash. „Without you, Jessica and I would never have married again ...“ Ash started to say that that was anything but a reason for joy but Max simply spoke over him. „... You were the reason we started talking to each other again. You made me realize that some things are worth fighting for, and some things are not worth the breath for complaining about.“

„We both did“, Jessica affirmed. Ash looked at her but his attention snapped back to Max, when the other man reached out and grasped his hand.

„Most importantly“, Max continued, his voice quivery and a suspicious sheen in his eyes, „because of you, I have a family – a wife, a son. And, if you want, a husband.“

„What!?“ Ash jumped up but lost his footing in the sand, falling on his ass where he stood. Jessica took the metaphorical baton from Max and slid down into the sand, next to the twen.

„We are serious about this“, she said. „We're serious about you.“ She reached out and stroked a strand of hair out of his eyes, fixing him with a look that she hoped conveyed her earnestness. „This isn't pity. This isn't a fetish.“ She knew these prejudices, had heard them often enough from people who felt entitled to an opinion on her life, but she also knew them as Ash's darkest fears. „We want to spend the rest of our life with you, if you will let us.“

He was struck, rendered speechless for so long, that Jessica grew worried that Ash would storm out, never to be seen again. The worst thing was that he refused to look up but kept his gaze fixed on the ground. She felt helpless in this moment – afraid to touch him, afraid to leave him alone. They had offered Ash a future with them, a true and equal partnership but it would be his choice to accept. _His_ leap of faith.

Max chose this moment to bring out their last, and heaviest artillery: reaching behind his back he pulled a letter and a small box from his trouser's backpocket and slid both into Ash's lap. Jessica knew the box, knew the ring incased therein on champagne-coloured satin but the letter was new to her. A simple „Ash“ stood on the envelope, written in Michael's chicken-scrawl.

Oh, her clever man! She thanked the stars that made Max better than anyone at reading people's feelings. „Think about it, please“, Max rumbled. „Take all the time you need.“

Ash still wouldn't look up but his posture had lost the panicked fight-or-flight energy it had had just a minute ago. Making one last-ditch effort in scattering his crippling self-loathing, she said: „This isn't a fling. We have thought about our proposal for a long time. We want this – truly and with all our heart.“ She reached out tentatively, inching her hand carefully into Ash's field of vision and watching carefully for any sign of discomfort. When none came, she took his hand. „Even if you must doubt everything under the sun, please try to believe that Max and I mean this exactly as we say.“

Finally, he nodded once. The hand in hers started to shake before Ash curled it into a fist.

„Can you leave me alone, please?“, he asked in a very small voice that made Max and Jessica link gazes with silent dread.

„Of course“, Max said, because what else was there to say? They got up, brushed themselves clean of sand and dried sea-weed and walked back to the house. Their hands joined on their own accord, fingers interweaving tightly, as they each imagined the worst case scenario. Jessica braved a look back before they entered the house: Ash had dragged himself into the chair she had sat in, his head buried in his hands and shoulders shaking.

Inside they were restless, aimlessly moving this way and that, picking stuff up just to put it down a moment later. Soon, she found herself in Max's arms, forehead resting on his shoulder and eyes screwed shut. They had blown it … Ash hated surprises – if they had learned anything about him during the last ten years, they should have learned this! He hated unforseen situations, loathed them with an intensity that could only stem from having been controlled and made use of for the first eighteen years of his life.

Regret and anger at herself made her curl her hands into fists and punch Max's chest, once. He coughed under the impact but did nothing.

„We're such idiots“, she hissed into his shirt. „We should've waited!“

„Until when?“, Max asked from above. „No moment would've been right, ever.“

„We pressured him!“

„We're not forcing anything on him, not even a decision.“ Max's hands started to run up and down her back. She hated that he was able to be calm and comforting right now, as if he had reason to hope when she had not. „Sometimes, nudging people to the edge of their comfort-zone is the only thing you can do. If we haven't asked today, he would've left us eventually – thinking that everything he suspects about us is true.“

„In contrast to all the things that I suspect about you that aren't?“ Ash asked tiredly from the doorway. They spun around and saw him leaning against the door-frame. His hair was a light halo around his head in the morning light but his face was obscured in shadow. „I suspected you to have more taste in the company you keep.“ He sounded defeated. „But some things are just beyond salvation, I guess.“

Max was faster on the uptake. While she was still grappling with the news, he had taken his left arm off her back and held it out to the young man at the door. Ash hesitated a short moment before he walked into the embrace. He buried his face in Max's other shoulder but before he did so, Jessica saw the traces of tears on his cheeks. She reached for his hand and found a ring, _their ring_ , on his finger.

„Promise me that nothing will change between us“, Ash begged softly.

„Not unless you want it to“, Jessica and Max said in unison. This coaxed a small laugh from Ash who disentangled himself enough to look at them. Even with red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks she could see a sliver of mischief.

He lifted his left hand and looked at the ring. „I can live with this, I think. The stone's pretty but what on Earth possessed you to go with gold leaves on platinum ground?“

Jessica laughed in relief and drew him to her. „You can be as tacky as you want next time we buy new toys“, she promised when they had finished kissing.

 

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: "Jewelry"


End file.
